Mining machine



L. F. TRENCZAK MINING MACHINE June 3, 1952 Filed Feb. 24, 1949 June 3 1952 L. F. TRENczAK 2,598,948

MINING MACHINE Filed Feb. 24, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 1a 2 f4 4 -f a s y1I i Ladsleus Franz'. Tnlenczak INVENTOR v ATTORNEY Patented June 3, 1952 Abiiititii faire In'Ai/istra March 1?; 1948 The invention relates to an apparatus' for the extraction of minerals and particularly mineral coal and brown coal iny undergroundmines by means of cutting machines. y i

Cutting machines are' known, whichconsi'st of cutting rollers or cuttingchainsor'comoinations of cutting rollers and *cutting chains. Moreover cutting machinesare known' which are' combined with conveying apparatusyfor' example the cutting apparatus consists of a vertically. disposed cutting chain and two' horizontally disposed cutting rollers, while the conveying apparatus consists in primitive fashion of two.' rotating racks, which in most cases fail because the. coal is sojfirm or is in such large lumps that they cannotact.' In those machines whichconsist .of twoparts,k one' part must also be replacedlahead of vtheother. at the end of van up or ...down trip,.and ,f'ojr this purpose must be dsmant1ed,which means very great losses of time and output..

Separate extraction andloa'ding deviceabuilt after the style ofA plQughS, alloalso yalready known, in which the' plough bodies have cutting: edges which strikeu against theoalseagn 4with the aid of a compressed air drive,;.whichhow-f. ever, apart from `relatively,small .outputL of.. thesey machines, involves an enormouslylgr'eat con-A sumption of material, i.e. wear anc1 t ear,in the` case of hardcoal. T116 .Safety -ofthe :I nivleis-.at.v the coal face is also greatly: emperillellby, these; machines, which work withvery v.consi'derable noise, because the minerscannot hear the warn; ing sound 0f breaking. W90@ bfQ-.e ,t-lflqlffiyfe way, and owing tothe .treinendusu vibrat-,ionV which this machine setsfup on'mthe roc they latter collapses more easily andlmore'ftreguently than in the case of c'uttingmachir'ieswinchworkA quietly and steadily. u

The present invention Yc disposing the driving app under cover of a casing'. wliivc-A formed in the shape ofb .agploughs away laterally they ateri 1 eut away ting machine'. Thefa'pparatis'f thus acts simultaneoslyasgf coal-cuttfing' machine in the coal seam or thelilg"V directly adjacent to the cutting I i'iac nelislliflt clear. The apparatus ci Ithe inventionthereiore;

makes possiblel a particularly simplified method ohnegsisuded onto. the. conveyor belt. direct simo1y-fthrough the .action .of .trioploushshare- Shpsdoasiog. @who .driving apparatus.

F1115 .f-.ralouslisharo-shapod. .casina whioh. oon- VsPl gilt formsa'paliof e housing of .theflrivf nit Consisting. .of .motoraod .gearihg....is @who ootionfdofacing; the Conveyor bo d; near .the floor-.by .2i-body. Whih has guide. oesrising'obliquly! outwards and` by which o rkmg umili, ahdbmuentbaek 1n..- toi`op`e'rat1o'n With thereve'rse advancej In, order to permit completely Lcontinl l 'us working without lsmsndf time at the"turnir'igV p` titis possibley'in proportiorito the" forwfard'Infor/ emerit O i thfcut me path" freed by' the `cutting machine,1 which belg temes" intpopation 'during the'nxt' workmgipam ofthe cutting machine.

the;` symmetrical, vdublz-ifaction' design ofthe lmachine. a, conveying output is achieved lwhich :far

exceeds the output of ,knowncutting machines.v

The automatici working ...of the. cutting machine ingot oofoperation .,Wththe conveyor` belt. en.. ablesa substantialreduetion. to,.be made in the,

operatinggcrew. whose duties `now. cons-ist. only of. attending to Ltrriberng: and. walling' .for safety.

pumoe behind wthe machine,- assemblig thenew. conveyor belt, and., moving the machine laterally. into. its new; working" positionemihe.. turning' pointsof the.Wf rkinglpath.V rIn .this way thai, vgytionpermitsithe.outnptgintonsjpenmineinto bemultipliedand nalso permits-extensive rationalk isation of working. In addition, the invention' p on a s de, by\ a distancek permits the complete elimination of dangerous blasting at the working faces tackled by the crew as well as the troublesome preliminary drilling which, particularly in fire damp pits, in which, as is known, the catastrophic fire damp explosions are for the most part due to careless blasting work, means a very substantial improvement of the safety of miners.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show one embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention in plan, elevation and cross elevation respectively;

Fig. 4 illustrates the mode of operation of the apparatus.

The cutting machine has a housing I, which The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows:

In the case illustrated in the drawing it is assumed that the machine advances to the right. The cutting chains 4 and 5 and the cutting cylinder 8 disposed on the right then cut into the coal seam 32, thus cutting out a block. The advance is effected by the tension of the rope 2I. Depending on the nature of the coal seam the block will break up of its own accord or is broken into fragments by the ploughshare-like surface 23 which is made of steel. In the space 33 between the cutting apparatus and the ploughshare surface 23, the material detached by the encloses the driving unit. On the housing are- Y pivoted cutting frames which are rockable about axles '2 and 3 and carry cutting chains 4, 5, 6, and l. The projecting ends of the upper and lower cutting frames are connected by shafts 8 and 9, and I3 and II respectively, of which the shafts 8 and YS are designed as cutting shafts. The cutting Vchains and cutting shafts are driven through the shafts 2 and 3, which form the pvot axles, by a motor I2. From the motor I2 the drive is taken through a chain I3 to a gearing i4 and thence through a chain I5 to the shaft 2. In the drive of the cutting chain and of the cutting cylinder I is inserted an. intermediate wheel I6 which acts as a reversing gear and which is driven Vthrough a chain I'I andris in engagement with artoothed Wheel I8 disposed on the shaft 3. A handwheel I8 serves. to control the drive, forrwhich purpose, depending on the direction of advance, the right-hand cutting apparatus 4, 5', 8 or the left-hand cutting apparatus 5,Y '1, I0 can be connected to the drive or disconnected `therefrom.V 1 Y On the housing I are fastened, through the medium of springs 26, draw ropes 2I and 22, Whichserve to advance the cutting machine. The draw ropes 2| and 22 run over guide rollers 2l Vand 22 disposed on the shafts 9 and II, in order that the machine will be pressed against the coal seam by the pressure of said draw-ropes and in this manner the guiding of the machine with the straightness of a string along the working face may be achieved.

The housing I enclosing the driving unit has surfaces 23 and 24 shaped like ploughshares. The shaping of these surfaces is so selected that the Y material detached by the cutting devices, or the coal cut out ofthe coal seam, is shovelled or ejected by said surfaces in the direction of a conveyor belt 25. The region 26 of this ploughshare-shaped surface is disposed Valmost vertically, so that the coal is displaced from the remaining wall of the coal seam. In the outer Vregion 21 (in Fig. 1, bottom) the surfaces 23 and 24 are arched like ploughshares in such a manner that they shovel up the material detached by the cutting device. In this region bodies having inclined surfaces 23 and 29 are connected to the surfaces 23 and 24 respectively and raise the material during the shovel actionv of the surfaces 23 and 24 to a determined level. To these inclined surfaces 28 and 29 are connected in turn ploughshare-shaped bodies 36 and 3I` cutting device is therefore dammed up, and as the machine continues to advance it is raised by the shovel action of the surface 23 over the inclined surface 28 and on to the conveyor belt 25. The ploughshare-shaped body 30 seizes during this operation the material passing out at the side.

In this way the cutting action of the cutting roller 8 produces a wall of coal 34, against which the rear wall 35 of the housing I bears and slides. The roof of the gallery is supported bythe usual pit-props 36 and beams 31.

As is shown in Fig. 4, the conveyor belt 25 is guided directly at the side of the cutting machine over the Whole length of the working path of the latter, so that the cutting machine can shovel the material on to the conveyor belt over the whole of its working path. The conveyor belt is driven by a driving unitV 33. At theA left-hand end the conveyor belt 25 discharges the material on to another conveyor belt 33. In proportion to the advance of the cutting machine over its working path, the gallery is supported by further pit-props 36. In the space 40 which has just been cut out by the machine, a second conveyor belt similarto the conveyor belt 25 (not shown in the drawing) is constructed from separate parts. When the machine has completed its up journey in the direction of the arrow 4I, the gallery is cut out to thewidth indicated by the broken line 42. At the end of its working path the machine passes on to a slide 44 in the crossgallery 43, and on this slide itis displacedby its working width. The winch 45 hitherto required for the advance of the machine, which has drawn in the draw-rope 2 I, is now put out of action,`aIr1d the winch 41 provided in the left-hand ,crossgallery 46 is connected. Under the pull of the left-hand rope 22 themachine then carries out its next working trip inthe region betweenjtheY broken lines 42 and 48 of the arrow 49which indicates the down journey. At this moment the second conveyor belt erected in the space 40 is already completed, so that the machine now runs directly at the side of this second conveyor belt, and the material now detached .byv the left-` hand cutting machine 6, 1, I Il is shovelled by the ploughshare-like housing surface24 over the inclined surface 29 on to the belt.V Y During the down journey the first conveyor belt 25 is removed and re-erected behind the machine, so that when the machinehas completed its down journey andbeen moved by the slide 50 into its new working position, the next up journey can be made in similar fashion. This is repeated until the coal seam has Ybeen fully worked. Y A p The height of the cutting machine depends on the height of the coal seam. If desired, the

height ofthe cutting machine maybe adjust-Y able. Y

The invention permits a substantial increase of the output of the miners per man and per shift, which is estimated to amount on the average to 100 to 390 per cent. At the same time the physical work is considerably lightened by the elimination of drilling, wedge-picking, pick-hammering, and in particular loading work, which is the most strenuous of all underground work. This results in a very substantial reduction of production costs for coal which, depending on local conditions, may be estimated at 50 to 75 per cent of former production costs for the mines in question. In addition, there is also a considerable increase in the safety of miners on those working faces in the coal mines which are equipped with machines of this type, through the complete elimination of dangerous blasting work, particularly in mines where fire-damp is present.

What I claim is: A

1. Ina mining machine, a cutter unit, a driving unit for driving said cutter unit, said driving unit being disposed in a casing covering said driving unit and being formed in a ploughsharelike shape, acting as a deflector for conveying away sidewise the material detached by said cutter unit, the outer limits of said casing arranged wholly within the outer limits of said cutter unit, a triangular lower arm articulated to the lowest part of the said casing, a triangular upper arm articulated to the uppermost part of the said casing, cutting chains guided on the circumference of the said lower and upper triangular arms, a rotating cutter bar connecting two corresponding corners of the said lower and upper triangular arms, means for establishing a driving connection between said driving unit, said cutting chains and cutter bar comprising a vertical gear shaft, and means for advancing the said mining machine.

2. In a mining machine according to claim 1, a second cutter unit arranged behind the said casing, the said casing being designed symmetrically to a plane lying transversally to the direction of advance so that the machine may be advanced in both directions.

3. In a mining machine, a cutter unit, a driving unit for driving said cutter unit, the said driving unit being disposed in a casing covering said driving unit and being formed in a ploughshare-like shape, acting as a deflector for conveying away sidewise the material detached by said cutter unit, the outer limits of said casing arranged wholly within the outer limits of said cutter unit, a triangular lower arm articulated to the lowest part of the said casing, a triangular upper arm articulated to the uppermost part of the said casing, cutting chains guided on the circumference of the said lower and upper triangular arms, a rotating cutter bar connecting two corresponding corners of the said lower and upper triangular arms, means for establishing a driving connection between the said driving unit and the said cutting chains and cutter bar comprising a vertical gear shaft, the lower and upper triangular arms being articulated to said casing in the axis of said vertical gear shaft, and means for advancing the said mining machine.

4. In a mining machine, a cutter unit, a driving unit for driving said cutter unit, the said driving unit being disposed in a casing covering said driving unit and being formed in a ploughshare-like shape, acting as a'deflector for conveying away sidewise the material detached by said cutter unit, the outer limits of said casing arranged wholly within the outer limits of said cutter unit, a guide surface near the oor and joining the said ploughshare-like shaped casing and rising obliquely outwards over the height of an adjoining converter belt, arranged aside of the path of the said cutter unit, a triangular lower arm articulated to the lowest part of the said casing, a triangular upper arm articulated to the uppermost part of the said casing, cutting chains guided on the circumference of the said lower and upper triangular arms, a rotating cutter bar connecting two corresponding corners of the said lower and upper triangular arms, means for establishing a driving connection between the said driving unit and the said cutting chains and cutter bar comprising a vertical gear-shaft, and means for advancing the said mining machine.

LADISLAUS FRANZ TRENCZAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,497,692 Morgan June 17, 1924 1,563,153 Brackett et al. Nov. 24, 1925 1,565,376 Levin Dec. 15, 1925 2,093,448 Joy Sept. 21, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 595,623 VGreat Britain Dec. 10, 1947 

